The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-12-22
A LADY,e REVOLVER.

ohe was too young apparently to beal
rule over the strange assemblage of Mex
ican and half breed boys and girls, with
sprinkling of American youth, not oi
the most tractable kind, who constituted
the school in the Puente section. The
school-house was almost as rude and un.
kempt looking as the scholars. 1t was
part redwood" and part adobe, and no
| attempt had been made to give it q civil.
| lied appearance. 1t stood apon . piece
of half cleared land which bore crop oil
barley, carelessly reaped BY the law
Spanish family who owned it, and whose
adobe hut was the nearest neighbor to
the school-house, at q, distance of nearly
. third of mile.
All round this patch of grain land grew
the wild mustard in immense profusion.
Here and there a cactus patch fourished
prlckly wilderness, but the mustard was
the chief feature Of the foreground. 1t
has beauty of its own when Its myriad
slender branches sway to the breeze their
golden blooms, and desolation of it's
own when the Flowers and verdure are
gone, and it spreads in all directions =
miniature forest-dry and dead.
Beyond the mu-tard, rocks and bowlders
began to crop up, which increased in size
and assumed shapes more and more weird
and gaunt as they lay nearer the mouth
of the canyon.
A wilder scene could hardly be i'm
agined. A stranger setting to the picture
of Stella, as she stood on the Threshold
of the school-house, in the shadow of the
projecting doovway, watching her last
scholars out of sight.
cent Spanish family, living on the road to
San Bernardino, about half mile south
Of the school-house. She knew that when
the children left she ought to 60 with
them; it was too lonely a place for the
young teacher to remain in when all were
gone but, on the other hand, this quiet
hour or two were of such priceless value
to her. 1t was her only time for thought,
for writing undisturbed the cherry let
tiers which were to brighten and bless the
sick room of poor Tom at Los Angeles
Poor Tom, her only brother, whose
young life was fading out under the
blight of consumption.
The orphan brother and sister had
come from the city of their birth and love,
their far eastern home, in quest of healing
for Tom. Both had been full of hope.
The climate was said to be q miracle
working one, and Stella, as strong in cour-
age as in love, never doubted that, while
the healing process was going on, she
would be able with brain or hands, or
both, to support their small establish
ment. But Los Angeles seemed over
crowded with young workers of all kinds,
and after many efforts and failures to OBJ
tain remunerative work, Stella was thank
full at last, through the interest of some
school trustees, whom she had besieged
in oil respects the least desirable in the
county; the class Of scholars, the small
salary, the situation, everything making
it 30 unattractive that some formali-
ties might well be set aside in the matter
of certificates, and teacher infinitely too
good for the place given charge OF the
school,
The great drawback was leaving Tom );
the district was some thirty miles from
Los Angeles, and the cost Of going there
made large breaches in the meagre salary
which was to supply the sick lads COM
forts.
When the children were all gone and
the loneliness of the place came upon her
with that strange thrill, half pleasurable,
half dreadful, the sight and touch Of her
little silver mounted revolver was . CON-
fort to her. She prayed that she might
never have to use it, but still it lay there
like trusty friend on whom, in posi-
Bile emergency, she might rely.
This afternoon the air was still and
sultry, and the utter silence lay like a
weight upon her; the dull rgliness of the
schoolroom, as we'll as the breathless
heat, oppressed her. After waiting for
awhile she leaned back and sighed impa-
tiently, and presently she gathered up
her writing, slipped the littls revolver
into her satchel, tied On her hat, and set
off toward the canyon. Not many hun
dred yards above the school house q
"live oak," or lick. had struck root among
the scattered rocks, and, finding some
hidden runlet to nourish it, had spread
abroad its dark branches, and made the
one spot of shade within reach when the
mustard was dried up BY the scorching
| sun.
The way seemed longer than usual to
Stella. The sun beat down mercilessiy
though the afternoon was wearing on
and once she sst down for . moment OF
two under the seanty shade which The
mustard, not yet dsnnded Of its light TO
liage, afforded.
| How black the shadow Of the large, sol
itsry tree lsy osshs rocky ground Only
those who have lived in sovtbssa Caiifor
mia or like climate oan know the deli
cious relief of passing ont Of the burning
sunshine into AhpAes which seems darker
and cooler than anywhere else.
The heiatsd breeze from the distanl
ocean sprang up, . II % Welcome etslla
and nodkipg bird 'sddsi1Giyy a. bseaa e'a ~